2.4c Factors Affecting Party Success Flashcards
Party leader
The party leader represents the party and many voters view the leader as the image of the party.
Public opinion of the leader and their ability to offer an appealing brand to the electorate plays an important role in creating support for the party.
Party leader: charisma
A leader’s personality, charisma and popularity among voters is important.
Nigel Farage was viewed as the image of UKIP and his charisma played a role in UKIP’s appeal to voters.
Since Farage stepped down as the leader, UKIP has not achieved the same electoral success.
Tony Blair was popular beyond traditional Labour voters.
Blair’s personality and charisma had wide appeal, which were important in the success of New Labour from 1997.
Party leader: uniting the party
Party leaders unite the party, which is important because party supporters may come from a range of groups in society.
More divided parties struggle to win elections and appeal to voters.
The Labour Party is divided under Jeremy Corbyn, who faced a vote of no confidence in 2016.
The Conservative Party is divided over the issue of leaving the EU.
Party leader: funding
Party leaders play a role in gaining party funding, which is crucial as greater resources can mean the ability to run a stronger election campaign.
Theresa May held dinners for donors to increase funding for the Conservative Party.
Election campaigns
The election campaign tells the public about party policies, the personality of the leader, and how the party behaves under pressure.
For example, Ed Miliband was seen to be a weaker leader than David Cameron, because of problems in the election campaign.
But, studies have shown that voters already know who they will choose before the election campaign, so the election may not always change minds.
Policies
Party policies are important to gather support.
Change in party policies can gather new voters.
In 1997, after Labour rebranded to ‘New Labour’ under Tony Blair, they achieved their biggest general election victory.
External events
How parties respond to external events (ie outside of UK politics and goings-on in Westminster) may impact their support.
Terror attacks, world politics and protests may all be commented on and responded to by major parties.
If a party responds in an unpopular way, this may impact their support.
The media
The media provides the means by which the electorate can access information on parties.
Different media outlets support different parties and encourage readers to vote in certain ways.
The Daily Mail is a right-wing paper. The paper supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum
The Guardian is a centrist/left-leaning newspaper. Some Jeremy Corbyn supporters have accused the paper of being biased against the Labour leader.
The BBC is funded by taxpayers and is supposed to be unbiased.
Social media
Social media is harder to regulate, and so false news stories and information (‘fake news’) may be seen, which could influence voters.
On social media a mix of news, personal stories and opinions and other information can be seen, which may affect voting intentions.
Region
Cities have tended to support the Labour party, and rural areas have tended to vote Conservative in recent elections.
The north of England tends to support Labour, and the south of England tends to support the Conservatives.
Historically the North was more industrial and has deeper trade union links, and so may be linked to historic Labour support.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different national parties that voters support.
Ethnicity
Some political parties are more diverse and representative of minority populations than others.
The Labour party has historically had a more diverse electorate.
Class
Historically Labour was the party of the working class.
But, voting has moved away from being related to class.
Classes have changed sizes, and become less important.
The number of workers in manual industries has fallen.
The structure of the UK economy has changed, and it could be argued that opportunities are different and less class-related.
Family
How someone’s family votes also has an impact on who they will vote for - some families pass on their political values.
Age
Younger voters tend to lean more left and support Labour or similar parties.
The Conservative vote increases with age.
It is not clear why age changes voting patterns.
